Shergar - 40 Years On

ShergarT h e f i r s t h a l f o f 1 9 8 1 w a s m o m e n t o u s f o r r a c i n g a n d i n d e e d s p o r t i n g e n e r a l i n B r i t a i n .

Beginning at the Cheltenham Festival, where 11-year-old Sea Pigeon claimed his second Champion Hurdle under a masterful John Francome ride, to the first-ever London Marathon, to Bob Champion and Aldaniti overcoming all the odds at Aintree to win the Grand National and on to Ricky Villa’s mastery for Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup Final replay, it truly had it all. That remarkable sporting year would continue in no uncertain terms at Epsom Downs thanks to a horse called Shergar. Trained by Michael Stoute in Newmarket, Shergar won impressively on his first start as a two-year-old at Newbury, before finishing second to the more experienced Beldale Flutter on his only other juvenile outing in the Futurity Stakes at Doncaster.

Having been rated 31st among his peers in the 1980 European Free Handicap, Shergar commenced his Classic season as a 33-1 ante-post chance for The Derby. Those odds tumbled after a 10-length victory in Sandown Park’s Classic Trial was followed by a 12-length demolition job in the Chester Vase. Shergar lined up at Epsom Downs as the 10-11 favourite for Derby glory, where he would be partnered by 19-year-old Walter Swinburn. He did not disappoint his supporters as he once again accelerated away from his rivals to register a stunning 10-length success - the widest winning margin in the long history of the premier Classic. Given the unprecedented winning margin, jockey John Mathias, who was aboard secondplaced Glint Of Gold, famously thought he had won! With The Derby in the bag, Shergar went to the Curragh and added the Irish Derby by four lengths before routing his elders by the same distance in Britain’s premier all-age middle-distance contest, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. The stage was set for an autumn hurrah in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp but in an unexpected twist, connections decided to take in the St Leger at Doncaster. He could fare no better than fourth in the final Classic, with connections in agreement that Shergar’s magic from earlier in the season had deserted him. That defeat was to be Shergar’s final race. With a lofty Timeform rating of 140 and valued at £10 million, the colt retired to the Aga Khan’s Ballymany Stud in Ireland. However, in what was to make headlines across the world, hooded gunmen seized the stallion on February 8th 1983, with a £2million ransom demanded and subsequently refused. Despite numerous articles, documentaries and conspiracy theories, Shergar’s fate remains a mystery. Tragically, Shergar’s jockey Walter Swinburn, who also won The Derby on Shahrastani (1986) and Lammtarra (1995), died as a result of an accident aged 55 in 2016. For all that has followed in the ensuing 40 years, that gloriously sunny afternoon of June 3rd 1981 at Epsom Downs and Shergar’s electrifying performance will never be forgotten.